More Digging

Right now we live about 30 minutes from our plan and I try to get out there twice a week. Luckily I have clients nearby so I can usually stop by before or after meetings.

I stopped by today and wasn't expecting to see much work since it has been raining all day. They were actually digging when I stopped by. I couldn't take any pictures because the guys were on the lot working and we're not supposed to take photos of them. It looked like the hole was significantly deeper.

The weather should be nice the next few days and into next week so hopefully we'll have more than just a hole by next week.

I'm wondering when we should expect to start receiving weekly updates from the PM. I called him about 11 days ago when our digging hadn't started yet, that was Monday of last week. I'm thinking we haven't heard from him because there hasn't been much to report. Any thoughts?

They started digging

We had the pre-construction meeting a few weeks ago, I just haven't had much time to post an update. Everything went well and our estimated close date is January 4th. Our initial dig date was Oct 5, then when we had our pre-construction meeting it was set for Oct 12. We had some rain the week of the 12th and they had to finish up on a few other foundations that were already started, so we got bumped to this past week. I stopped by on Wednesday and we finally had a hole.

We still haven't closed on our current house, but we've been told once again it "should happen this week." That's been a bit stressful, so it was a nice relief to see that digging had actually started this week.

Our plan is made up of multiple builders, but each has their own entrance and streets. The Ryan section has one completed street and then our street that was just released for sale in June and paved in August. There are already 3 houses framed (closings in Nov), 3 or 4 with foundations (closing in Dec) and 2 or 3 with holes (closing in January). It's crazy to see how much the street has changed in the past 2 months, especially because when I stop by I hardly ever see people there working.

We're kind of in the middle of the street and by the time we close in January the 2 houses to our right will already be completed and occupied, and the house to our immediate left will be finishing up a few weeks later. Seeing everything staked off and houses going up, we're really glad we chose our lot instead of one on the culdesac. Those lots have hardly any yard, and with the area they cleared behind our house, we're actually going to have a decent sized back yard. Dan was a little concerned about the lack of privacy with townhouses right above us, but we walked through their yards and its actually really hard to see into our yard from the top of the hill.

Our Lot

Our lot, our 2 neighbors and the townhouses above us.

Our lot, the neighbors, and the townhouses.

Our street. We'll be 2 doors down from the house on the left.

We spent some time last weekend looking at furniture again. I changed my mind on the dining room set because I want something a little bigger. The china cabinet is 2 pieces, I haven't decided if I want both, or just the credenza. Dan met me at the store to check out a closeout floor model set for the gameroom. After spending about an hour comparing every leather sofa and sectional in the store, we decided on a sectional. As I was talking to the saleswoman, Dan wandered over to a sectional we completely skipped over because it had recliners and consoles with cup holders. Of course it was the most comfortable couch we sat on all day and we changed our mind. It's really for a home theater, and since our game room will be primarily used for movies, sports and xbox we decided to go with it. Each seat is a "power recliner," and they're all separate pieces which should make it easy to get into the basement since we don't have a walk-out. We're going to add a 5th seat to the center section which makes it a little over 14'. I stopped by the model to make sure it would fit; we have to change the layout we were planning and move the tv to a different wall, but it will definitely work.

I'm hoping to update more regularly now that the building process has actually started and I'm halfway through my busy season for work. The weather should be pretty good this week so I hope to have a lot more to report about our progress.

It's been a while

Not much to report on the new house front. There's one house on our street that is already framed, and it looks like framing will start soon on the house 2 doors down from us. They also finally have the lot signs posted, but it was dark and I couldn't get a good shot. Our pre-con meeting is October 5th, I can't wait.

We're still trying to pack our current house and we're getting down to crunch time. I ended up getting 3 mobile storage units (plus we already have one). It's a little more expensive, but I just think the convenience is definitely worth it. Dan spent the day cleaning the garage out, we were both shocked at how much junk we had in there. It didn't look like a lot since everything was around the perimeter and the car fits fine, but the garbage men are going to hate us this week. I'm just really glad that I'll have a separate storage area in the new house for all of my work stuff (I have an event planning biz so lots of random supplies to store). We've sold some furniture, but still have a few larger pieces to sell. We still don't have a closing date, but the estimated date is "by the end of September."

We need to start making a list of everything we need to buy, refrigerator, washer, dryer, light fixtures, etc and the projects we want to do immediately. I've read about people painting the garage and sealing the floor, but I don't know if we'll be able to do that in January with the temperature. I know there are some organizational projects I want to do too before we put anything away (kitchen, closets, garage, basement).

40 Days Out

We've been in our current house for 7 years, and at this point we're both over almost everything here. The wall colors, design style, furniture, artwork, etc. The things that I liked when we moved in when I was 20 are a lot different from my current style; dark red dining room, faux finishes, blue/brown combo (I know this is still really popular, but I never really liked the shade of blue in our bedroom), dark cherry wood floors, mahogany furniture, etc. Dan has decided he wants nothing to do with any dark high-sheen furniture, and I totally agree.

One of the biggest mistakes I made with this house is that I can't pass up a sale. I love to shop, on any given weekend I'll visit 2-3 malls around the city. A few months ago our friend had a garage sale and invited us to set-up a table. Well one table turned into 4 and once everything was on display I realized how much money I've wasted on "home stuff." Countless items that were never used, or used maybe once. Crystal serving ware, curtain rods, tie backs, vases, artwork, duvet covers, and random home decor. Everything was such a good deal that I couldn't pass up, even though I had no need for it. I knew that I had to stop doing that.

Last week Dan and I stopped at Macy's to check out that store's furniture selection. At one point I thought we were ready to walk out with a coffee table, console table and kitchen table and chairs set. They were all amazing prices, but nothing was exactly what I had in mind and then we'd have to find other pieces that matched the style/finishes etc. I knew that this was the exact situation I need to avoid, we would probably decide it didn't really go with anything else and end up putting it up on craigslist in a few months. As much as I love shopping, I knew we were making the right decision when we walked out empty handed.

This time around I'm going to try to figure out how I want every room to look, and then find all of the pieces to bring it together. That might be totally insane, but that's my goal. I just started using Pinterest the other day (http://pinterest.com/cmahaven/for-the-home/ let me know if you want an invite to join), and it's a great tool to collect ideas you come across online. I'm hoping this will really help me figure out the looks I like and that I'll be able to recreate those in our next house.

The plans for our next house are definitely more lighter/brighter. I love the antique white kitchen and I think that is really going to set the tone for the rest of the house. We're pretty much selling all of our furniture on craigslist right now and starting fresh. We have most of the furniture picked out, but that might change as we get closer and I start filling in my "pin boards" and figuring out what style suits us best.

So since there's not much to blog about for the next 40 days until building starts, the next few will be about the furniture...

A month before we decided to build I came across this furniture collection at Macy's. I loved it, Dan came to check it out and we were ready to buy. We decided to wait because we knew we were moving and weren't ready to commit. I'm so glad we did because although this was really comfortable and pretty, it doesn't go with our kitchen at all.
This is an option still, even though it's a little too contemporary.
My biggest concern is that it has the exact same shape and lines as our current living room furniture. The microfiber fabric has a slight pattern and the cushions are tufted, but other than that, it's the same. Our current set is red, and I do like the green above, but I can't see buying the same couches.Finally, the set I think we're going to go with (not sure what color yet though). I think it has a slightly modern look, but the overstuffed cushions and wide corduroy-like fabric make it a little more casual/comfortable. This is by-far the most comfortable sofa.
Moving on to the dining room... I like this set, but think it might be a little too big for the space.
I love this set. We've definitely been gravitating more towards painted wood, and even though it's a little small, it can still seat 6.
I also love the sideboard.

That's the furniture update for now. With 4.5 months still to go it seems like forever until we'll actually buy furniture and move in. Luckily this is my busy time of year with work, so hopefully the time will fly by.

Time to pack

Things are moving forward with the sale of our current home. The home inspection is complete and we're just waiting on the appraisal and fha inspection. We should be out of here by the end of September. I should probably start packing, but I'm going to put that off until after Labor Day. I do have most of our furniture up on Craigslist and I bought a bunch of storage containers at Target this weekend, so that's a start. We haven't decided if we're going to rent a traditional storage unit or a mobile unit. We already have one mobile unit that we got when we listed our house a few months ago, I love the convenience but wish they offered different sizes. If we can sell everything we plan to, I think we should be ok with 2 more mobile units.

Our 30-day deadline with RH was this past weekend so we finalized our flooring (Sandswept in family room and 2nd floor and Capri in basement) and electrical choices. We ended up adding 8 outlets; 3 for televisions, 2 in the master bedroom closets and 3 specifically for Christmas decorating.

Our road is paved and I think they are going to start digging for a few houses this week. So far there are 10 lots sold with 3-4 closing in November, December and January.

Dan and I visited a model to look at the furniture layout so we could start to figure out what we're keeping and what we're replacing. At this point we're planning to replace almost everything; game room, family room, dining room, office and master bedroom. We've been visiting furniture stores the past few weekends and I think we have almost everything picked out (will post pics later).

We got an offer!

After almost 2.5 months on the market we accepted an offer today on our current house! Still have to get through the home inspection, but they want to close asap so we'll be out of here soon.

Hopefully we have a warm August so we can enjoy our pool a little longer.

It is a never ending process

We had an appointment today to finalize all of our options. Since our first meeting 11 days ago we decided to change:

• Crown molding on entire 1st floor and a chair rail in the office and dining room
• Basement, 2nd floor and master bathroom vanity tops to Meteorite (pic below)
• Door handles & hinges, light fixtures and cabinet hardware to oil rubbed bronze
• Kitchen and bathroom faucets, shower heads and towel bars to brushed nickel
• Upgraded the front door hardware so it isn't just a doorknob
• Replace the tub/shower in the master bath with a 5' walk-in fiberglass shower

Here's a few pics of the new bathroom look except that our faucet will be brushed nickel.

We were ready to leave and Dan reminded me that I wanted to look at our siding color beside the Almond trim to make sure it pops and doesn't just blend in. We took the sample outside because they don't have actual trim samples in the model and of course, Sandy Tan is almost the exact same color as the Almond trim.

I didn't think I would change my mind about the trim color, but I realized the contrast is more important. We went back inside and started the process of choosing exterior colors again (the rep was very understanding even though Dan was ready to kill me at this point). We ended up changing everything!

• Stone Mountain Clay siding replaced the Sandy Tan
• Aspen stone replaced the Kentucky
• Brown shutters replaced the Black
• Black Bean front door (brown) replaced the Black
• White trim and garage door replaced the Almond

I feel much better about this combo and I really like the darker siding. I'm still not 100% about the white trim, but we don't really have a choice so I just have to hope it looks good. Here are a few pics:
These samples show the difference between Sandy Tan and Stone Mountain Clay.
Here's everything all together. This pic isn't the greatest because I didn't have my camera so I had to use Dan's iPhone. The Aspen stone is much lighter and has less variation than the Kentucky.
Finally, this house is a completely different model, but the siding is almost identical to the Stone Mountain Clay. The shutters are also a similar color. I think the Aspen stone will help to brighten the house and the white trim and garage door will really pop.We're not totally finished yet. We still have to meet to finalize the electrical stuff. We went through the model today to figure out where I need outlets for Christmas decorations. I know that may sound ridiculous, but if you know me, you know that Christmas decor is a priority.

I think we're going to go back to Rusmur to change the bathroom flooring (it needs to be more gray now that we changed the counter tops) and possibly the carpet. We're afraid that Branch might be too dark. We don't want anything to be too light and get dirty, but I also want to keep the carpet pretty neutral since I have no clue what colors we'll be painting and how we'll be decorating. The 3 frieze carpets we're considering are:
1) Branch (darkest)
2) Capri (medium)
3) Sandswept (lightest)





Thoughts on the carpet?

We got a date for the groundbreaking, October 5th. Dan has big plans; gold shovel, hard hats, big scissors, the works. I'm not totally on-board with this idea, but I'll give him this one.